dominated in was the Northeastern black belt, the location of North Carolina's 1st congressional district. However, Kerry did narrowly flip two heavily populated counties, Mecklenburg and Guilford, which have gone on to give Democrats over 55% of the vote in every subsequent election as of 2020. He also cut Bush's margin in another heavily populated county, Wake, from 7.1% to 2.1%. As of 2020, Wake has gone on to give Democrats over 55% of the vote in every subsequent election save 2012. Large Democratic margins in these counties have been instrumental to making North Carolina competitive in every election from 2008 onward. , this is the last election in which Pitt County, Forsyth County, Wilson County, Wake County, Buncombe County, and Cumberland County voted for a Republican presidential candidate. As of 2020, this is the last election in which a presidential candidate won North Carolina by double digits, as well as the last time the state was not seriously contested. Results Results by county Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Bladen (largest municipality: Elizabethtown) Chowan (largest municipality: Edenton) Columbus (largest municipality: Whiteville) Cumberland (largest municipality: Fayetteville) Granville (largest municipality: Oxford) Martin (largest municipality: Williamston) Tyrrell (largest municipality: Columbia) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Guilford (largest municipality: Greensboro) Mecklenburg (largest municipality: Charlotte) By congressional district Bush won 9 of 13 congressional districts, including two held by Democrats. Electors Technically the voters of North Carolina cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. North Carolina is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 15 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector. The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 13, 2004, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met